New Member

It has been my experience with Cingular / AT&T that if they place the iPhone in the same category with the rest of their cell phone inventory then indeed those of you with corporate or company discounts will enjoy that same entitlement with the iPhone. That is again based on how AT&T operates.

However here is the big "IF"

IF Apple has it written into their contract with AT&T that there will BE NO DISCOUNTS, then everyone will pay full pop retail for the iPhone.

So in the event that you are told, "sorry no discount" it will be coming from Apple even though it's conveyed to you by the AT&T rep you are working with.

Zealot

It has been my experience with Cingular / AT&T that if they place the iPhone in the same category with the rest of their cell phone inventory then indeed those of you with corporate or company discounts will enjoy that same entitlement with the iPhone. That is again based on how AT&T operates.

However here is the big "IF"

IF Apple has it written into their contract with AT&T that there will BE NO DISCOUNTS, then everyone will pay full pop retail for the iPhone.

So in the event that you are told, "sorry no discount" it will be coming from Apple even though it's conveyed to you by the AT&T rep you are working with.

I just hope that the Apple mentality will ease up a bit, and choose to work as a responsible partner with AT&T.

The only reason I doubt that, is because the first carrier they approached could see the greed in Apples eyes and proposed contract. Therefore they declined the opportunity to sell and distribute the iPhone. Verizon has very high standards when it comes to being fair, and appreciating their customers. I applaud them.

New Member

I just hope that the Apple mentality will ease up a bit, and choose to work as a responsible partner with AT&T.

The only reason I doubt that, is because the first carrier they approached could see the greed in Apples eyes and proposed contract. Therefore they declined the opportunity to sell and distribute the iPhone. Verizon has very high standards when it comes to being fair, and appreciating their customers. I applaud them.

I wouldn't put all the blame on Apple. Verizon has a very negative image in the market when it comes to limiting the features of the phones they sell. I can't tell you how many threads I have read on Ho-fo regarding phones that have features crippled by Verizon.

What I am getting at is Verizon (like Apple) is known as a company that only does businesss with those that are willing to do businesss their way. For instance if you are a phone manufacturer you will only be allowed to sell phones for their service if certain features are disabled and it uses Verizon's UI. It isn't hard to see why Apple and Verizon were unable to come to an understanding.

New Member

I wouldn't put all the blame on Apple. Verizon has a very negative image in the market when it comes to limiting the features of the phones they sell. I can't tell you how many threads I have read on Ho-fo regarding phones that have features crippled by Verizon.

What I am getting at is Verizon (like Apple) is known as a company that only does businesss with those that are willing to do businesss their way. For instance if you are a phone manufacturer you will only be allowed to sell phones for their service if certain features are disabled and it uses Verizon's UI. It isn't hard to see why Apple and Verizon were unable to come to an understanding.

I am aware and do agree that Verizon disables some very good features on many of their phones. However speaking about fairness in pricing and willingness to work with their retail customers they are a notch above Apple.

As I recently noted here, after years of loyalty as an Apple customer, when I received a very defective first gen. MacBook Pro, Apple repeatedly worked on it under warranty. Each time it came back with either the same issue unresolved or in some cases another new issue that did not exist prior to the warranty visit to them. I did everything I could do (with courtesy) in trying to work with them, allowing them many attempts to fix it. Only to have them refuse to replace it when it could not be fixed. Even a letter to upper management went ignored.

While I could have sued for breach of warranty, (as advised by the corp attorney for my company) I would have more invested then, than I did in the defective computer.

So while I wrote it off as a bad purchase, it speaks volumes of who Apple is as a company. Not only that, it's important for me to note that it was not the first time that I received a product from them that had major issues. Each and every time they were less than forthcoming or willing to work things out.

Conversely I've been using ThinkPad laptops for years as my main businesss computer and when issues developed, they promptly resolved those issues and returned the computer to me in 72 hours maximum. I have never experienced the World Class Service IBM provides, from any other company.

I do realize that the MBP is mass produced product, and there will be defective ones from time to time, it's how the issue is handled that reflects the companies true concern about their customers.

However that said a problem we have, due to the regulatory rules in the US, is that All Carriers can be singled out for their selfish or predatory practices in various areas.

For example, as we happen to be exchanging thoughts on limitations. I would direct attention to Cingular for an example. When the first E61 Nokia was introduced, it became a very popular smart phone in other parts of the world. Cingular then decides they want to offer it to their customers. However there was one problem. The E61 included WiFi, which is a system that Cingular is typically against. Therefore they demanded that Nokia build an identical phone and leave out the WiFi, hence the E62 was born, just for Cingular.

So in the final analysis, all the major carriers certainly do have their shortcomings. No question. And as is always the case, it's buyer beware.

Zealot

I am aware and do agree that Verizon disables some very good features on many of their phones. However speaking about fairness in pricing and willingness to work with their retail customers they are a notch above Apple.

As I recently noted here, after years of loyalty as an Apple customer, when I received a very defective first gen. MacBook Pro, Apple repeatedly worked on it under warranty. Each time it came back with either the same issue unresolved or in some cases another new issue that did not exist prior to the warranty visit to them. I did everything I could do (with courtesy) in trying to work with them, allowing them many attempts to fix it. Only to have them refuse to replace it when it could not be fixed. Even a letter to upper management went ignored.

While I could have sued for breach of warranty, (as advised by the corp attorney for my company) I would have more invested then, than I did in the defective computer.

So while I wrote it off as a bad purchase, it speaks volumes of who Apple is as a company. Not only that, it's important for me to note that it was not the first time that I received a product from them that had major issues. Each and every time they were less than forthcoming or willing to work things out.

Conversely I've been using ThinkPad laptops for years as my main businesss computer and when issues developed, they promptly resolved those issues and returned the computer to me in 72 hours maximum. I have never experienced the World Class Service IBM provides, from any other company.

I do realize that the MBP is mass produced product, and there will be defective ones from time to time, it's how the issue is handled that reflects the companies true concern about their customers.

However that said a problem we have, due to the regulatory rules in the US, is that All Carriers can be singled out for their selfish or predatory practices in various areas.

For example, as we happen to be exchanging thoughts on limitations. I would direct attention to Cingular for an example. When the first E61 Nokia was introduced, it became a very popular smart phone in other parts of the world. Cingular then decides they want to offer it to their customers. However there was one problem. The E61 included WiFi, which is a system that Cingular is typically against. Therefore they demanded that Nokia build an identical phone and leave out the WiFi, hence the E62 was born, just for Cingular.

So in the final analysis, all the major carriers certainly do have their shortcomings. No question. And as is always the case, it's buyer beware.